The incident occurred on Feb. 23 when the minister caused a fuss after being told by airport security he could not take a bottle of tequila onto a plane in Ottawa, because it contained more than 100 millilitres of liquid.

"Since I had to leave the bottle behind, I asked that it be destroyed," Blackburn said in a short statement, adding "Granted, I was definitely upset at what happened."

Sources told CTV News the argument became so heated, security almost called the police.

Blackburn insists he did not ask for any preferential treatment due to his position.

The Liberal opposition wondered why Blackburn would attempt to bring the bottle onboard considering he announced an airport security initiative in 2009, which quoted the liquid ban.

"Why is there one set of rules for the Conservative team, and another set of rules for everyone else," Liberal MP David McGuinty asked in question period Friday morning.

Transport Minister John Baird replied that Blackburn had apologized and did not ask for any preferential treatment.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper echoed that talking point later in the day.

"Its very clear Minister Blackburn followed the rules," Harper told reporters in Brandon, Man. "That said, in my experience (Blackburn) is a very respectful guy but I think he feels that if he got a bit more frustrated than he should have, he apologizes to anyone he offended."

Blackburn's incident occurred just four days after fellow cabinet minister Helena Guergis berated airport employees in Charlottetown, and referred to the city as a "hellhole."

The issue of preferential treatment also came up last week when Guergis' husband, former Tory MP Rahim Jaffer, was given what the judge called a "break" when he pleaded guilty to careless driving but had more serious charges dropped.

The PMO says Harper will send out an edict to his ministers, reminding them that they're not above the law.

CTV's Ottawa bureau Chief Robert Fife said Blackburn's office initially would not comment on the incident, and only commented when they were informed of the details gathered by CTV.